Wasted lunch hour today... Wanted to get the Hema Maps cd of their six desert tracks maps. I hunted down their distributor in Singapore, Mapco, and called them up. Sounded like I was calling the local fishmonger at the wet market, but the woman said that yes, they had it, and it was sold at both Borders and Kinokuniya. Then she hung up before I could ask another question.
So of course I hopped in a cab and went over at lunch time. And of course they didn't have it. When I talked to the folks at the information counter they had no record of it at all. They called the distributor themselves, who told them that 'no, they don't carry it and never have.' Great.
So I came back to the office and called Hema directly in Australia and started purchasing it over the phone. Almost finished the transaction before the woman remarks about the wrong product. When I tell her that I was looking for the CD Rom, she says, 'oh, no, that won't be ready for another two weeks--it's in re-production.' Groan again. I asked her, 'are you sure this is really "two weeks" or in two weeks it'll still be "two weeks", and I'll be in store for a WRX-repair-style wait?"
She checked around, and it sounded much more like six or eight weeks. They were updating the maps, packaging, everything. On one hand it's good -- I'll get a better product, on the other hand I won't be able to get it before Christmas unless I'm very lucky.
I guess in the meantime I'll continue my investigation of OziExplorer.
Posted by Nils Blutig at October 21, 2002 02:25 PM | TrackBack